Buddy Peace

The modest mouse speaks to Dazed about his megamixes for Warp and collaborations with ZILLA.

A shy man with a big musical presence Nick Budd is definitely the quiet type - he rarely does interviews and frequently shies away from the camera. However, as 'Buddy Peace', he's surrounded by a huge fan base of mixtape and underground hip-hop scene followers. His first collaborative mixtape with the talented ZILLA led them to later make ‘Watch And Repeat Play’, a megamix for Warp Records. Budd has also DJ'ed for several artists including the hip hop legend Prince Po (Organized Konfusion) and has been the resident DJ for Lex and Sage Francis's Strange Famous Records. Several sought-after mixes, including ‘A Crew Called Self’ for online store Boomkat, Buck ‘65’s ‘Dirtbike’ trilogy and ‘Bully Records Megamix 7’, have earnt Budd the reputation as one of London’s finest DJs and producers. His extensive knowledge of music is evident in the frequent references he makes through his handcrafted beats and mixes.

Dazed Digital: What have you been up to since your definitive mixtape ‘Wolf Diesel Mountain’ came out?Buddy Peace: That took a little while to get done, mainly down to the methods and the production process (not to mention using really beaten up old equipment - I was using a zip drive which passed on soon after), so after that I picked up some of the stuff I'd had waiting to be finished. I got my album done up ('Late Model Sedan'), and started doing more for Strange Famous Records. I've been lucky enough to work alongside Sage Francis, Buck 65, B. Dolan and Prolyphic, which has been an absolute dream and definitely kept me sharp. No room for slacking with these fellas. I've been making a lot of my own stuff too, getting some mixes and podcasts together and sorting out a few collaboration projects too. The most recent mix was the 'Go Mean!' one I did for the Monday Jazz website, which was kind of an unofficial follow up to 'Wolf Diesel Mountain'. It's been crazy busy and all kinds of stuff has been happening, but I managed to make it to 2010 without a personal assistant. I might work on that though. It'd be really nice.

DD: What is your favourite mix?Buddy Peace: I'd never be able to settle on one, ever! Way, way too many favourites... I'm sorry. I'm awful at definite lists, all my favourites come into my head in a cloud formation, but some of my all timers include: DJ Babu - 'Comprehension', DJ Signify - 'Mixed Messages', DJ Faust - 'Man Or Myth', Mr Dibbs - 'Turntable Scientifics' and an old DJ Riz mix my brother taped off a Westwood show. I'm sure you'll find bits and pieces of techniques in various forms on most of my scratch sections! I just used to play them so much and absorbed all I could - they are definitely part of my musical DNA now.

DD: Who would be your dream track to mix?Buddy Peace: I've always loved most records produced by DJ Premier. I think someone once said that his beats are a dream for DJs, and rightly so. They always feel good to play. Apart from that, I try and keep my options open - I have a few mixes I sometimes go to which I love to do, but I guess my dream tracks are the ones that might not be so well known but go down really well when you play them. The ones that you're really proud of finding and can share the goodness with a crowd. That's always fantastic, being able to do that. I know that you can get a lot from the internet these days but digging for vinyl gold (I'm too poor for gold vinyl) is something that I'll always love. There is no substitute.

DD: What does the future hold?Buddy Peace: Grey beard hairs! I can't wait. I'm studying a lot next year, so I'll be in the labs quite a lot, but on the music side of things, it's going to involve more in the way of collaborations. There are so many projects I've been waiting to start and trying to get off the ground, like working with my friends Aupheus (genius beatmaker and animator) and 2econd Class Citizen (wonderful producer on Equinox Records). I'm getting an album together with Prolyphic too, an emcee on Strange Famous who is great, it's coming on really nice - he's written some awesome tracks. I've been working on some really interesting music with Buck 65 too which will destroy, I promise. He's a very busy man though so we're taking our time. I'm getting a few blog pieces up and running too... I'm more inspired and amped up than I've ever been, and genuinely excited about getting these projects done.